Hornets nest

[Deer Stalker]

Yes, I remember him getting quite close to Hornets.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Originally Posted by Deer Stalker

Yes, I remember him getting quite close to Hornets.

So i heared luckily this Queen doesn't seem to want to leave the nest at the minute, i've opened the box up a couple of times and Alan did today without any bother i'd expect a different reaction soon though

[Deer Stalker]

If the Queen doesn't hibernate in there, you might be able to take the nest out & the bats may be able to use it over the winter.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

That is what i'm hoping will happen, if so i'm going to alter the Bat box during winter to stop the hornets using it so readily, by creating a Crevice panel inside similar to the other Bat box i have(1FD)

[Deer Stalker]

Bats, Hornets...its all good.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Very true, i'm just as pleased with a Hornet using it really well maybe not quite

[hatsepshut]

I think hornets are lovely gentle giants. I leave my windows open at this time of year and there's always one hornet that comes in through one window,flies low over my bed sounding like a Lancaster bomber and then flies out the other window..sometimes he does a few "laps" if i'm lucky :-)

[shadowx]

I thought hornets were like wasps on steroids with a temper to match!!

I have only ever seen two hornets and admittedly neither of them were anti-social like wasps chasing everyone around the garden...

I am interested to learn more now about how aggressive they are, what provokes them etc?

Dont mind bees at all but wasps I am wary of, been stung a couple of times by wasps and it isnt nice and they do have a nasty habit of following you around, unlike bees.

[King Edward]

Hornets are not normally very aggressive. It's mainly around the nest you need to be careful.

[Klaas Reißmann]

Even arround their nest they are very peaceful. You need to move slowly, but you can get close to the entrance (seldom close to the nest, because normally it is hidden in a cavernous trunk of a tree). Just watch them and react if they seem to get nervous. If they do, move away slowly and try again a little later.

I did it ones at a nest in a tree trunk lying on the ground. A guard was observing me very exactely. I could see his head doing my slow moves, when I crawled slowly close to the nest entrance and stopped half a meter in front of it. I could watch it for around five minutes, wasps coming in and going out, never attacking me, and the guard watching me and not letting me out of sight. After five minutes it starts getting more and more hornets around the nest, swarming, so I crawled back to the distance of four or five meters, still watching what happens.

When they appeaced after a few minutes I crawled clother again and could watch it for 15 or 20 minutes, until I left and went my way.

So, more or less peaceful, but observent.

Regards
Klaas

Edit: It is important that one does not smell to much for perfume or sweat. they can smell very well and if one is close to the nest after doing a hard work, or wearing perfume they can get aggressiv. the same with all the other wasp species and honeybees.